Every Day I Write the Book

Is this the path out of the stagnating university model? Maybe, maybe not. But I'll tell you this; these aren't the kinds of people and institutions who are used to losing.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/05/09/151876426/explosion-in-free-online-classes-may-change-course-of-higher-education

Money, It's a Gas

A brilliant essay about the fundamental insanity of the current post-secondary debt load students take on and what it does to the economy as a whole. If enough voices cry out in the wilderness, does it eventually stop being the wilderness?

http://cassandrafiles.com/2012/04/19/how-college-costs-and-student-debt-are-destroying-america/

Sign of the Times

Student-loan debt now tops credit-card debt:

http://www.nacba.org/Legislative/StudentLoanDebt.aspx

William E. Brewer, Jr., president, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, said: "Take it from those of us on the frontline of economic distress in America: This could very well be the
next debt bomb for the U.S. economy. The amount of student borrowing crossed the $100 billion threshold for the first time in 2010 and total outstanding loans exceeded $1 trillion for the first time last year. The reason: Students and workers seeking retraining are borrowing extraordinary amounts of money through federal and private loan programs to help cover the rising cost of college and training. In many cases, parents responsible for the student loans are in or near retirement years and facing repayment demands."

Now Put Your Hands Up

Why have I not been following these women?

http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/


http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/

You don't have to agree with everything they say; I don't. But the only way education as we know it changes, grows and (pleasepleaseplease) gets better is if we're discussing what education could be, and what it needs to be.

In the News

The changing demographic in homeschoolers in Newsweek.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

“Big-time sports,” Dr. Clotfelter said, “have a real effect on the way people in universities behave.”

A very interesting article in the New York Times about the effect of sports upon colleges and universities. No surprises here, but corroboration of what many of us suspect; sports programs as they currently exist corrupt higher education. 

People Used to Dream About the Future

Article in Forbes magazine about the changing face of university education. My favorite quote is from William Gibson, "The future is already here; it’s just not evenly distributed."  I tell you, it's a fun time to have education-watching as your hobby.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/billfischer/2012/01/19/disruption-coming-soon-to-a-university-near-you/